Tips to Plan a Budget Party

A party can be considered a sign of happiness. Catching up with your friends and relatives brings you happiness and is so much fun! A wedding reception or a bachelor party or just a casual get together party can be a stress buster for adults. Birthday parties can be amusing for the kids as well as for the grown-ups. No matter what kind of party it is – fun and happiness are always guaranteed.

Planning a party within a budget can be exciting and fun too. Let us not forget that hosting a party without fixing a budget can end up in unnecessary expenditure. Hence, it is always good to stick to a budget before throwing a party. This way you are certain that you do not go overboard with the party expenses. Limiting yourself to a budget and working around it can be awe-inspiring.

If you are planning to throw a party anytime soon and if you are worried about budget – Do not fret! We will assist you with some useful budget party planning tips.

Start off with priority guest list

Making a guest list should top your party planning checklist. This list will significantly complement your budget for planning the party. Pen down the important guests you wish to invite – it can be your close friends or favourite colleagues – just be clear with the number of guests and do not forget that you have to feed all your guests. So, stick on to a precise guest list so that you get a clear picture of food or beverage expenses and also the overall party expenses.

Go easy on the party venue

If your house is spacious enough to accommodate all your guests, then your home can be the best choice for your party venue. Make sure all your guests can be seated comfortably in the living room. Keep in mind the use of rest room too. The terrace can make a great option too. If all these criteria get a nod, you can host a birthday party or a get together at home with ease and peace.

On the other hand, if space is a constraint, you could consider a simple party hall in your society. It can work out cheap and make it convenient for your guests too. Public parks can also be a cost-effective option and can make a perfect party venue for noon parties and kid’s birthday parties.

Toggle the Party Time

Planning the party timings prudently matters for a budget party. Remember that hosting a meal is expensive than a snack! Early evenings work best for the kids birthday parties where kids get to enjoy a slice of the delicious cake, snacks and some juice. However, for a get together party kept for friends or relatives, a lunch/dinner or brunch works great. An ice cream party or a dessert party can be delightful and economical for the post lunch and evening timings. Plan your party timings as per your fixed expenditure –this will ensure you are within your budget.

Rock on with a party theme

A themed party is a thing now! Decide on a theme if you are meticulous about it. Kids are obsessed with theme parties and desire to have one for their birthdays. Picking up coloured balloons, fresh flowers, scented candles and decor to match up the party theme can be quite cost-effective. It can pep up the party ambience to make it a memorable celebration. If you are a good baker, bake your kid’s favourite cake and frost it to match the theme. Believe me! Your kid will brag about it to all her friends. Party dress code and simple return gifts like a floating candle or a sapling or anything hand crafted can do the favours within budget.

A theme party can also be planned for adults. This will add charm as it will bring out the hiding child in the grown-ups.

Digitise your Invitation

Formal parties like a wedding or a family affair – need a formal invitation. Printing the required invitation and giving it to them personally for the priority guests can be welcoming. For close friends and colleagues, a poster invitation over social media and a phone call should work just fine. And for informal parties, a phone call and an invitation via an email or WhatsApp or any other social media can do the job effectively.

Happier the tummy, merrier the party

Well, we are talking about the menu. For a lunch/dinner or a brunch – stick to budget ingredients and cook a happy and tasty meal out of it. A quick one-pot dish can save a lot of time and energy. You can buy the bulk ingredients online at Amazon Pantry to get instant discounts or in regular supermarkets where you get loyalty perks. For a cocktail party, you could restrict to two types of alcohol. Even better is to pick something as affordable as wine or beer.

You can also make it a ‘potluck’ party or ‘bring your beverage party’! Potluck party is always a hit among friends and relatives who love to contribute their share. You can ask your friends or relatives to bring in their signature dish while you can stick to yours. For ‘bring your beverage party’, the guests can bring their favourite drink, which can save you a bomb on the overall budget.

Another option would be to order Pizza, Burgers on any other dish online from stores like Dominos, McDonalds or Swiggy. Mare sure to check the Dominos coupons to avail huge discounts.

Amuse the crew

What is a party without dance and music? Let the guests dance their heart out! Plug in the iPod to the speakers – Put on the DJ hat to play the peppy songs on your playlist. Music apps like Pandora or Grooveshark can help you create a live playlist on your Mobile or laptop. Watching blockbuster movies with friends and cousins, work best for late night parties. Games like Karaoke can bring in more participation from guests to keep the boredom at bay!

For kid’s birthday parties – organising fun games or activities can entertain kids and make the party more enjoyable. Do not forget to rewards the little winners. A gift as sweet as chocolate can make your guest jump out of joy!

Treasure your memories

No party is complete without clicking pictures or capturing videos. For formal parties, you can hire a professional photographer as per the budget requirement. If you have a friend or colleague who loves clicking professional pictures, you can ask her/him to assist you.

For informal parties, you can use your smartphone to click pictures and capture videos. With apps like Youcam and Cymera, you could take photographs like a pro! This will help you re-live every moment and to cherish the memories for life.

Just remember that by the end of the day what matters is how your guests felt! A good hospitality can win million hearts over a million dollar party.

An Inside Tip: When you realize that few items are crossing the estimated price, try compensating with other items in the checklist. This way you could avoid the chances of over spending.

Planning a budget themed party the easy way

Is your kid’s birthday coming soon? Have a quick look at our planned rainbow themed birthday party with an estimated budget of INR 4000. You can perhaps implement the same plan for your kid’s next birthday.

This estimated budget includes themed décor, food and return gifts. Invited and expected number of guests round up to 25 – which includes 15 kids and 10 adults.

Birthday Party – Estimated Budget – INR 4000

Birthday décor – Estimated budget – INR 500

Birthday decoration can include a backdrop with a happy birthday banner, a hand crafted rainbow and some colourful balloons as per the rainbow theme.

Birthday Candles – can be purchased for less than INR 100 to deck up the cake

A pack of 100 balloons costs INR 230

Assorted happy birthday banner costs INR 99

You can even make your own birthday banner using cardboard sheet and cut into different shapes of letters. These letters can be coloured with sketch pens or embellished with glitters. Pin them on a long and thin strip of fabric. Viola! Cost effective and colourful happy birthday banner is ready for use.

Apart from the above essential décor, you can make a collage of your kid’s pictures till date and dangle it randomly in the venue. It will surely be an eye-catching décor for your guests and will make a perfect décor statement.

Birthday menu – Estimated Price –INR 3000

Birthday menu can include food like vegetable fried rice or noodles, cupcakes or carrot halwa, potato chips, fresh juice and fruit salad with ice cream. Kids will for sure love to indulge in this delicious menu.

Pre-Requisites – Make sure to shop the list of essential ingredients before two days.

Baker mommies can bake cupcakes a day before and frost it on the day of celebration. Don’t forget to deck up the cupcakes with rainbow sprinklers. This will match up the rainbow theme and make the kids drool over it.

For nonbaker mommies, carrot halwa is an easier option. It tastes delicious and loved by all age groups.

Potato chips can be store bought or home made.

Fresh juice can be made out of Rasna. This tastes delicious and easy on pockets.

To match the rainbow theme – include colourful vegetables like capsicum, carrot, beans etc. and fruits like apple, papaya, orange etc. Chopping of vegetables and fruits can be done a day prior and can be stored in air tight container for ready use on the D-day.
Its Party Time

Make sure to serve kids as per their appetite to avoid wastage of food. Below is estimation of the menu items for 25 guests:

Vegetable Fried Rice – INR 600

Cupcakes – INR 600

Carrot Halwa – INR 300

Potato Chips – 5 packets –INR 200

Fruit Salad – INR 300

Soft Drinks – Rasna – INR 100

Ice cream – INR 400

Wait, did we forget something?

Yes! What is a birthday celebration without a birthday cake? Since cupcakes are already included in the menu. Birthday cake can be smaller and simpler to match the rainbow theme. If you are a good baker, you can bake a small cake at home and frost it with fresh cream or chocolate ganache. Decorating the cake with rainbow sprinklers will match the rainbow party theme.

For nonbakers, you can pick a small cake from a nearby pastry shop or buy online or even ask your baker friend to bake a cake and customise it for you.

Birthday Cake –Half kg – INR 600

Return Gifts/Favours (Estimated Price INR 500)

Returns gifts for kids can be as per rainbow party theme. Colourful pencils, figurine erasers, sharpeners and paint palette are economical and will be of great use for kids. Kid’s castle crayons will cost you INR 10/- per piece and can make a perfect choice for return favours. Make it prettier by wrapping the gifts with colourful papers. These cost-effective return favours will certainly meet up your budget requirements.

Bring in some game by letting the birthday kid personally handing over the return favours or gifts.

You can also make homemade return favours like:

Paper pinwheels using colourfully printed papers and lollipop sticks

Rainbow made out of colourful chart papers

Thank you card made out of cardboard and some colourful stickers and glitters

You can even knit a hand band using colourful woollen and decorate it with beads or pearls

Creating these return gifts/favours along with your kid can be so much fun. It can boost your kid’s creativeness to a great extent.

Last, but not the least, do not forget to present gifts for winners who participated in the organised games and activities. It can be as simple as chocolates like Perk, Munch, Kitkat, Dairy Milk, etc. Colourful Gems make it a perfect choice for a rainbow themed gifts.

Be creative and forget not to go overboard with any expenses! Party hard, spread love and have fun!